Hydraulic cement compositions



PATENT OFFICE HYDRAULIC CEMENT COMPOSITIONS Louis L. Falco, New Haven, Conn., assignor to The ration of Connecticut 3 Claims. I

This invention relates to hydraulic cement compositions, and, while not limited thereto, the invention is particularly directed to a composition used in the manufacture of molded bath tubs.

Where the article is used as a bath tub, the

able for several reasons, one of which is that the thermal shock, caused, for example, by the introduction of hot water into the tub, causes cracking, and where a crack occurs the tub has to be discarded. Another objection to the ordinary cement mixture as used for such a purpose is the heaviness and massiveness of the article and its low tensile strength.

With a view to overcoming these drawbacks, I provide a novel hydraulic cement mixture, as hereinafter described. In this mixture I employ a light-weight aggregate of a suitable kind, whic with the other ingredients, provides a composition having the required characteristics. I may use a cellular. aggregate, which i a burnt shale and which weighs approxim' ately 90 poun per cubic foot, or I may use an aggregate, which is a burnt slag from blast furnaces and which weighs approxima e y poun s per cubic foot, or I may use ex anded slag. These are lightweight material of cellular structure having a series of tiny air cells the walls of which are vitrified. For increasing the resistance to thermal shock and increasing the tensile strength of the mixture, I use wood fiber preferably having a length of about one inch, and preferably the fiber used is cottonwood fiber, which is preferred because of he ac a is free of tannic acid and is compatible with by au 10 cement and the other ingredients.

A further ingredient of the composition is a siliceo mat rial, and the preferred siliceous material is fly ash, because this combines especially well with the other ingredients while at the same time reducing to a minium the weight of the siliceous component. I may, however, use as a' substitute for the fly ash a w good quality.

A further component of the mixture is a waterroofing material. Here it is necessary 5 provide a mater'TaI that is compatible with the hydraulic cement and reduces the absorption of I water into the mixture to the required degree, For this purpose I use a liquid waterproofing agent comprising 'butyl stearate and mi figirits, mixed pre e'rably in substantially equal proportions. This is the preferred waterproofing agent because of the fact that it meets the conditions above mentioned.

ordinary hydraulic cement mixture is unsuit- Dextone Company, New Haven, Conn., a corpo- No Drawing. Application December 23, 1946, Serial No. 718,103

The following are examples of compositions which are suitable for the purpose.

Example 1 94 lbs. of P0 103 lbs. of burnt shglg having a size of inch to dust mesh and weighing approximately 90 lbs. per cubic foot.

4% lbs. of cottonwood fiberg of about one-inch length lbs. of d ash of 200 mesh.

1 pt. of fiutyl stearate and mineral spirits mixe in subs an 1a y equal proportions 6 gal. of water Example 2 94 lbs. of Portland cement 120 lbs. of burnt slag of size inch to dust mesh grid; weighing approximately 95 lbs. per cubic 4 lbs. of cottonwood fibers of about one-inch length 70 lbs. of 60-mesh sand 1 pt. combination of Butyl stearate and mineral spirits in substantially equal proportions 6 gal. of water The procedure in mixing is substantially as described above in connection with Example 1. In this particular case sand is used in place of fly ash, and it will be noted that a substantially greater weight of sand is required than in the case of fly ash.

These are examples of compositions which are admirably suited for the manufacture of bath tubs because of the high resistance to thermal shock and the relatively high tensile strength. For increasing the resistance to thermal shock, the wood fibers are used, and it is important to note that the light aggregate employed is not a good conductor of heat, for which reason the liability of cracking of the tub wall through sudden temperature changes is substantially decreased. The tub is of light weight because of the selection of the materials, and because of 55 the fact that a massive wall is not required owing can be impregnated with a suitable resinsolution for imparting added strength and toug ne'ss. Also, if desired, resinous materials can be addedlgmi itself or strength.

Before the bath tubs are used their inner faces can advantageously be coated with high-baked synthetic enamel, and this may be applied in three separate coats. Tubs so coated have been thoroughly tested for resistance to thermal shock. With the tubs at room temperature, hot water was run in at various depths and up to the overflow, emptied, cooled back to room temperature, and refilled with the hottest water available, namely 206 F. This water, after remaining in the tubs for thirty-five minutes, was then emptied out, and the tubs immediately filled with water at 52 R, which was allowed to remain in the tubs for ten minutes. The high resistance to thermal'shock was demonstrated by the fact that in such a test no cracks or other injuries to the enamel coatings were visible.

The ash used in making the tubs was a product 0 a ed by electrical precipitation in theburning of powder'ii'coal." Fly ash is a very ffiiely divided product, much finer than Portland cement, and is mostly composed of silica. It is pozzuolanic in action, forming with lime an hydraulic cement, and combining with free lime which is liberated upon the hydration of the Portland cement used in the above-mentioned A mixture. Fly ash also has thgj rgpertygf par mg 9. (116101181 in the yen small pores which wo remain in thafinalpmdu -L The finished surface of the tub is smooth and continuous and can take several coats of synthetic enamel, which coats can be baked at temperatures up to 350 F. The bath tubs tested in the manner previously described were full-size tubs having a wall thickness of approximately one inch.

What I claim is:

1. An hydraulic cement composition comprising 94 lbs. of Portland cement, 103 lbs. of cellular aggregate of burnt shale of a size of V2 inch to dust mesh and weighing approximately lbs. per cubic foot, 4 lbs. of cottonwood fibers of about one-inch length, 20 lbs. of fiy ash of 200 mesh, 1 pt. of butyl stearate and mineral spirits mixed in substantially equal proportions, and 6 gal. of water.

2. A hydraulic cement composition comprising, by weight, about 94 parts of Portland cement, about 103 to p rts of light-weight aggregate selected from the group consisting of fitfified shale and vitrified slag, about 4 parts of wood fibers of about one inch length, about 20 to '70 parts of a siliceous material selected from the grofipconsisungtrirfisfiaifimr amount of waterproofing agent co'iafirising butyl stearate.

3. A cement according to claim 2 wherein the wood fibers are cottonwood fibers.

LOUIS L. FALCO.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,344,058 Nilsson June 22, 1920 1,961,525 Oflutt June 5, 1934 2,085,793 Coss July 6, 1937 2,250,107 Nelles July 22, 1941 2,358,776 Goldstein Sept. 26, 1944 

1. AN HYDRAULIC CEMENT COMPOSITION COMPRISING 94 LBS. OF PORTLAND CEMENT, 103 LBS. OF CELLULAR AGGREGATE OF BURNT SHALE OF A SIZE OF 1/2 INCH TO DUST MESH AND WEIGHING APPROXIMATELY 90 LBS. PER CUBIC FOOT, 4 1/2 LBS. OF COTTONWOOD FIBERS OF ABOUT ONE-INCH LENGTH, 20 LBS. OF FLY ASH OF 200 MEASH, 1 PT. OF BUTYL STERATE AND MINERAL SPIRITS MIXED IN SUBSTANTIALLY EQUAL PROPORTIONS, AND 6 GAL. OF WATER. 